Title:
Author:
Standalone
Number of Pages:
Date Read:
Genre:
Synopsis (Found on
Goodreads.com)
When Rachelle was
fifteen, she was good—apprenticed to her
aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also
reckless— straying from the
forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal
darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to
make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.
Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?
Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?
My Review:
This is the second
book by this author where I thought I was going to love the book but ended up
not liking it as much as I thought I was going to. What sold me on the book was
the fact that it was said to be a retelling of red riding hood......no where in
the story did I see a reference or parallel to the red riding hood tale. I
gotta say the book did disappoint me.
in this book there were immortal creatures called forestborn. I still don't really know what kind of supernatural creature they are but to me they seem extremely similar to vampires, without the fangs. there is also the big bad in the book who is called the Devourer but I still don;t know what this thing looks like or really what it is. Apparently it needs a body to inhabit but it has a stomach where it swallowed the moon and sun and apparently the main character sees and describes it. The description is so vague and unclear that I really don't know what it is. Then there are bloodbound where are humans who are marked by forestborn to become forestborn. The marked humans have 3 days to kill another human to become bloodbound or they die from the mark. IF they kill a human, the become bloodbound which is a not human nor forestborn state. They get all the special powers and abilities of forestborns but not to the forestborn's degree. Once a bloodbound forsakens the rest of the humanity in them, they become an immortal forestborn. IF you've ever seen the Vampire Diaries tv show then its the same thing as becoming a vampire.
So basically the story is this. The devourer was defeated hundred of years ago by the legendary Zisa and her brother Tyr. The devourer swallowed the sun and the moon and there was eternal night. The humans had to honor and sacrifice for the forestborn their master the devourer. That is until Zisa saved the day, returned the sun and the moon and defeated the devourer. Now the sun and moon light are waning and its up to our heroine Rachelle to stop the devourer from coming back. To do this she must find Zisa or Tyr's legendary bone swords which are the only things that can truly kill the devourer. So she spends her time in the book looking for the swords as well as guarding the King's bastard son Armand. Oh and there is also something called the Great Forest which is where the forestborn and the devourer live but its like in a parallel dimension where only forestborn and bloodbounds can see it. The forest can manifest anywhere and the creatures in the forest can come into the human world and attack the humans.
Rachelle is an ok character. She was studying to become a woodwife which are kind of like witches who cast spells and charms to protect the village from forestborn. Unfortunately Rachelle doesn't listen to her aunt (who is training her) and speaks to a forestborn who she thinks she can outwit. Of course that doesn't happen and she becomes a bloodbound. She leaves her village because they'll kill her if they find out what she did and she goes to become part of the king's bloodbound army. There she "mans up" so to speak and she becomes this bad-ass bloodbound who is great with a sword and at fighting. She spends her time killing woodspawn, where are creatures that come from the great forest. Like I said before she begins to look for one of the swords but she also gets assigned to watch the king's son armand. Rachelle is brave and can be loyal when she wants to be. She is also annoying always whining about being a bloodbound, and how she's damned to hell, how shes in the kings army to do penance for becoming a bloodbound, how she should of died instead of becoming a bloodbound and the complaints keep on coming. She is constantly reminding Armand that she is dangerous, that she's a blood bound and she constantly threatens him. She wants to give in to the forest and become a forestborn (who apparently have no emotions) but then she doesn't and is horrified at the thoughts that she has. She's just all over the place and her complaining had me going crazy.
I really liked Erec, who wa another bloodbound in the king's army who trained Rachelle. He is so arrogant and thinks he is the hottest ladies man but he does it in a funny way where it's not sleazy. He is always trying to get into Rachelle's pants and its funny how he tries to woo her. He has no qualms about becoming a forestborn and looks forward to it. He really is such a likable character. He always calls Rachelle "my lady" and can make her into a stuttering mess in an instant. He acts like a gentleman would, makes sarcastic remarks and loves to be in the center of attention in the king's court. I'm not sure but I think he is the head of the king's bloodbounds but don't quote me on that. He does some bad things that can cause the reader to dislike him but in the end he tries to redeem himself. I really liked him alot.
I also liked Armand. His story is that he was marked by a bloodbound but he survived without killing and becoming a bloodbound. His hand however, were cut off by the forestborn who marked him so now he had silver hands he can attach to his stumps. Rachelle doesn't like him because she is jealous that he survived the marking and it makes her wonder if there was something she could of done to not become a bloodbound. Anyway the king has made his son kind of like a saint to the people and he is constantly trying to be assassinated. So Rachelle is assigned to guard him. Armand is very funny too but in a more sarcastic kind of way. He gets under Rachelle's skin by being extremely calm and speaking to her in a calm manner. It seems like nothing upsets him. He is loyal to the people he cares about and he is willing to sacrifice himself for the ones he loves. He is a very likable character.
There is a lot of action in book with constant fights and battles with woodspawn. There are also mysteries because both Erec and Armand have secrets. Then there's the mystery surrounding the devourer and the swords that can kill him.
Now on the the romance. This book has a love triangle which I can't stand. Rachelle of course is in the middle. Rachelle has feelings for Erec who is very handsome and is just like her, a bloodbound. Even though he is very flirty its clear that he wants Rachelle too, though until much later the reader doesn't know in what capacity- as a lover/sex thing or that he really loves her. Then Rachelle loves Armand which, really comes out of left field. Its clear in the beginning when she has to guard him, the reader can see her dislike of him, how she sees him as a chore and how she thinks he is a fraud. Then all of a sudden she "realizes" she loves him and what she feels for him is different from what she feels for Erec. Of course the triangle wouldn't be complete if Armand didn't love her too-which he does. Then added to her feelings for both men is the fact that both have secrets and whatnot. AND since I really like both guys a lot, I don't know who I would rather her be with. I don't think I'd want her with either of them because I don't really like Rachelle much. But anyway I hate love triangles.
So all in all this book was an ok read for me. Nothing special.
in this book there were immortal creatures called forestborn. I still don't really know what kind of supernatural creature they are but to me they seem extremely similar to vampires, without the fangs. there is also the big bad in the book who is called the Devourer but I still don;t know what this thing looks like or really what it is. Apparently it needs a body to inhabit but it has a stomach where it swallowed the moon and sun and apparently the main character sees and describes it. The description is so vague and unclear that I really don't know what it is. Then there are bloodbound where are humans who are marked by forestborn to become forestborn. The marked humans have 3 days to kill another human to become bloodbound or they die from the mark. IF they kill a human, the become bloodbound which is a not human nor forestborn state. They get all the special powers and abilities of forestborns but not to the forestborn's degree. Once a bloodbound forsakens the rest of the humanity in them, they become an immortal forestborn. IF you've ever seen the Vampire Diaries tv show then its the same thing as becoming a vampire.
So basically the story is this. The devourer was defeated hundred of years ago by the legendary Zisa and her brother Tyr. The devourer swallowed the sun and the moon and there was eternal night. The humans had to honor and sacrifice for the forestborn their master the devourer. That is until Zisa saved the day, returned the sun and the moon and defeated the devourer. Now the sun and moon light are waning and its up to our heroine Rachelle to stop the devourer from coming back. To do this she must find Zisa or Tyr's legendary bone swords which are the only things that can truly kill the devourer. So she spends her time in the book looking for the swords as well as guarding the King's bastard son Armand. Oh and there is also something called the Great Forest which is where the forestborn and the devourer live but its like in a parallel dimension where only forestborn and bloodbounds can see it. The forest can manifest anywhere and the creatures in the forest can come into the human world and attack the humans.
Rachelle is an ok character. She was studying to become a woodwife which are kind of like witches who cast spells and charms to protect the village from forestborn. Unfortunately Rachelle doesn't listen to her aunt (who is training her) and speaks to a forestborn who she thinks she can outwit. Of course that doesn't happen and she becomes a bloodbound. She leaves her village because they'll kill her if they find out what she did and she goes to become part of the king's bloodbound army. There she "mans up" so to speak and she becomes this bad-ass bloodbound who is great with a sword and at fighting. She spends her time killing woodspawn, where are creatures that come from the great forest. Like I said before she begins to look for one of the swords but she also gets assigned to watch the king's son armand. Rachelle is brave and can be loyal when she wants to be. She is also annoying always whining about being a bloodbound, and how she's damned to hell, how shes in the kings army to do penance for becoming a bloodbound, how she should of died instead of becoming a bloodbound and the complaints keep on coming. She is constantly reminding Armand that she is dangerous, that she's a blood bound and she constantly threatens him. She wants to give in to the forest and become a forestborn (who apparently have no emotions) but then she doesn't and is horrified at the thoughts that she has. She's just all over the place and her complaining had me going crazy.
I really liked Erec, who wa another bloodbound in the king's army who trained Rachelle. He is so arrogant and thinks he is the hottest ladies man but he does it in a funny way where it's not sleazy. He is always trying to get into Rachelle's pants and its funny how he tries to woo her. He has no qualms about becoming a forestborn and looks forward to it. He really is such a likable character. He always calls Rachelle "my lady" and can make her into a stuttering mess in an instant. He acts like a gentleman would, makes sarcastic remarks and loves to be in the center of attention in the king's court. I'm not sure but I think he is the head of the king's bloodbounds but don't quote me on that. He does some bad things that can cause the reader to dislike him but in the end he tries to redeem himself. I really liked him alot.
I also liked Armand. His story is that he was marked by a bloodbound but he survived without killing and becoming a bloodbound. His hand however, were cut off by the forestborn who marked him so now he had silver hands he can attach to his stumps. Rachelle doesn't like him because she is jealous that he survived the marking and it makes her wonder if there was something she could of done to not become a bloodbound. Anyway the king has made his son kind of like a saint to the people and he is constantly trying to be assassinated. So Rachelle is assigned to guard him. Armand is very funny too but in a more sarcastic kind of way. He gets under Rachelle's skin by being extremely calm and speaking to her in a calm manner. It seems like nothing upsets him. He is loyal to the people he cares about and he is willing to sacrifice himself for the ones he loves. He is a very likable character.
There is a lot of action in book with constant fights and battles with woodspawn. There are also mysteries because both Erec and Armand have secrets. Then there's the mystery surrounding the devourer and the swords that can kill him.
Now on the the romance. This book has a love triangle which I can't stand. Rachelle of course is in the middle. Rachelle has feelings for Erec who is very handsome and is just like her, a bloodbound. Even though he is very flirty its clear that he wants Rachelle too, though until much later the reader doesn't know in what capacity- as a lover/sex thing or that he really loves her. Then Rachelle loves Armand which, really comes out of left field. Its clear in the beginning when she has to guard him, the reader can see her dislike of him, how she sees him as a chore and how she thinks he is a fraud. Then all of a sudden she "realizes" she loves him and what she feels for him is different from what she feels for Erec. Of course the triangle wouldn't be complete if Armand didn't love her too-which he does. Then added to her feelings for both men is the fact that both have secrets and whatnot. AND since I really like both guys a lot, I don't know who I would rather her be with. I don't think I'd want her with either of them because I don't really like Rachelle much. But anyway I hate love triangles.
So all in all this book was an ok read for me. Nothing special.
Rating:
B
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